How to Balance Content Creation and Content Curation

Balance Content Creation and Content Curation Effectively

Valuable content is your heaviest weapon in the fight for Internet audience and high Website rankings. Like everyone else on Earth though, you too sometimes lack the time or inspiration to produce outstanding quality pieces for your blog. These are the moments when you most often resort to content curation. There is nothing wrong with that, but as you start liking it more and more, you should be able to assess at which point to restrain this practice and get back to writing again. The following reflections on the relative worth of content creation and curation should help you adopt the right balance between these two content marketing strategies.

Keep the healthy ratio in mind and cheerlead the right team

By word of introduction, the first thing for you to note in terms of the balance is numbers: 4:1. This is the score with which your original texts should beat your curated content. If more than 20% of your blog entries consist of links to other websites, you are running a high risk of losing the game altogether and becoming a cheerleader of your competitive teams rather than the best player on the pitch. Therefore, be careful not to pass the ball to others more often than it is absolutely necessary. The following reasons will help you understand where and why you can allow yourself to do that.

What do you get from writing your own content?

The most logical argument why you should create as much original content as possible rather than mainly curate it, is the fact that it is your new information or opinions that are more likely to attract traffic to your Website. The main reason behind that is that created content boosts your authority and amplifies your own voice on the Web. Your opinions, your language and every argument you use contribute to your corporate image, making it more recognisable, individual and distinctive. By writing on your own instead of linking others you signal to your reader that you have something to say and that you are truly knowledeagble in your area, thus constituting a reliable source of opinion. There is no need adding that once you have managed to achieve this level of authority, you will likely become the curated one and not the one forced to link others. Also, only as the author skillfully using language to your specific ends can you achieve desired reactions in your readers’ minds. Finally, think of all the other Websites mentioning the same posts and assess the chances of your blog appearing highest in Google results each time you promote external articles.

When to curate and how to maintain the balance?

Even despite the above advantages of writing independent articles, content curation is no crime and can or even should be used, but wisely. To begin with, since curation is much more time saving than creating original content, make use of this quality but do not treat it as the main reason to linking others. When you do not have time, it is better to act as a curator of the already existing sources than not to update your blog at all. However, good content curation means a lot of critical filtering, hence also consumes some time. Avoid falling into a trap of convenience and only curate opinions of respected authorities but be careful not to promote your competitors either. What increases chances of your curated post to reach more audience is combining many links and commenting on them. Still, content curation should primarily be reserved for your social networking strategy. Even there, though, it should complement rather than substitute your own voice. One more situation in which you can resort to content curation is when creating your content would be too expensive, for example in case of producing videos or sophisticated audio records. Finally, do not avoid content curation altogether. Bear in mind the social aspect of today’s Internet and appeal to your readers by showing that you listen to the opinions of other authors and are not afraid to cite them to your readers’ benefit.

To sum up, there are several guidelines to follow in order to achieve the desirable balance between content creation and its curation. First of all, keep the 1:4 proportions in mind while considering adding another curated post to your blog. Remember that it is better to build up your own authority rather than support other voices endlessly. Use links primarily in social networks, leaving your blog mainly for your independent content but also, in keeping with the social dimension of the Internet, curate respectable sources in your blog posts from time to time. Save time and money by resorting to external content when thinking of using a video clip. Above all, however, remember that what you are aiming at is becoming an authority that one day will be cited by others and create as much original and valuable pieces are possible.

Yvonne Wells has an avid interest in Web design, content marketing and successful business strategies. She currently works as a content specialist for EduInfo.co.uk and BizDb.

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